Observations on Mind Body Spirit by Peggy Elam, Ph.D.

March 05, 2006

Book review: Fat Politics by J. Eric Oliver

I'll come right out and say it: One reason I like political scientist J. Eric Oliver's book Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity Epidemic (Oxford University Press, November 2005) is that it says what I have been saying for years--the so-called "obesity epidemic" is marketing hype promulgated largely by those who benefit financially from fat-related fear-mongering. And that is what's really impacting our health.

Oliver actually set out to write his book believing that "obesity" is a real problem in America -- that weight gain is causing numerous health problems and will even result in the first generation of children whose lifespans will be shorter than their parents' due to their expanding waistlines (both common declarations by "obesity" terrorists). Along the way, though, he discovered the real story -- which is that those proclamations of an "obesity epidemic" are built upon shoddy science and marketing campaigns developed and promoted by those who either sell purported "solutions" to the "problem" or whose funding depends on belief that they're researching or fighting a terrible disease.

In short, to paraphrase the title of another book, the notion of an "obesity epidemic" is a big fat lie.

Our body weight is not the cause of our ill health but merely the expression of metabolic processes that are meant to protect us in times of privation. In other words, our fatness is like our body hair or the shape of our ears -- it is a natural part of our physicality that has a specific function. The real health problems that are associated with being heavy, including heart disease and diabetes, are not coming from our weight but from the same metabolic processes that determine our weight levels, such as our appetites and insulin levels. (Fat Politics, p. 102)

Environment and, I might add, dieting history also interact with metabolic processes to affect health. See Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D.'s book Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health for more on how weight loss and regain cycles have been found to harm health.

The old "weight = calories in - calories out" formula is incorrect. It's way too simple. We (or rather, science/medicine) don't know the true equation. But whatever it is, it contains many more variables than simply the number of calories ingested or expended.

Our weights may be written in our genes, but as far as obesity is concerned, it is written in a language that is far too complex for us to understand. This is because body weight is the classic example of what scientists call a polygenic trait, that is, a physical characteristic that comes from many different genetic sources. (Fat Politics, p. 105)

Fat Politics also reveals the statistical (and Powerpoint) sleight-of-hand employed to persuade Americans an "epidemic" is in progress. As Oliver reports, the number of Americans considered "obese" according to official standards increased by 55 percent between 1980 and 1994. But the average American didn't gain 55 percent more weight during that period -- he/she gained only seven to nine pounds.

That's right -- an average weight gain of seven to nine pounds since 1980 is the true "statistic" of the "obesity epidemic."

Oliver also mentions that Americans have, on average, gotten taller over the past century, largely due to the improved nutrition that's contributed to average weight gain. But you don't hear about a height epidemic, do you? That's because we don't vilify tall people the way we do fat people -- especially, Oliver points out, fat white women.

Another one of the many reasons Americans have gained that average seven to nine pounds over the past couple of decades is that the "average" American is getting older. Think about that population burst called the Baby Boomers of post-World War II, and the effect the natural aging of that cohort is having on the profile of the average American. We naturally add fat cells as we age, as a means of storing extra energy. And our set point -- the range of weight/body fat our bodies naturally defend and return to when we eat and exercise normally -- rises with age.

There's more -- a lot more -- to the politics of fat. Oliver also points out that despite considerable hoopla attributing increased incidence of diabetes to weight gain and insulin resistance,

No one has demonstrated that obesity causes insulin resistance. All we really know is that insulin resistance is simply more prevalent among people who are heavier. In fact, we just may have the whole causal relationship backward -- rather than obesity causing insulin resistance, it might be that insulin resistance is causing obesity. (p. 118)

Oliver doesn't mention, however, that diabetes is also a condition whose diagnostic markers have been lowered in recent years.

As Ray Moynihan and Alan Cassels point out in their book Selling Sickness: How the World's Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning Us All Into Patients, the level of blood sugar considered indicative of "prediabetes" was lowered in the late 1990s. Some Health At Every Size advocates have also reported that there has been no real increase in the incidence of Diabetes Type II in children -- rather, in recent years more effort has been made to diagnose the condition, thus increasing the number of diagnosed cases.

Even if there is a relationship between fatness and insulin resistance, Oliver notes,

people who exercise more, irrespective of their body weight, are less prone to insulin resistance. This is because the regular usage of muscles seems to facilitate the transference of sugars from the bloodstream. (p. 120)

Fatness is not a disease or a dysfunction of our bodies, no matter how hard many have worked to transform "obesity" into a pathological state of being (or, rather, body). Instead, as Oliver says, fatness

is a protective mechanism that evolved to survive fluctuations in our food supply. Judging someone's health by how much they weigh is like judging a camel by how much water it has in its hump -- in conditions of privation, our extra weight, just like the water, may be exactly what we need to survive. Our weight is merely an expression of this adaptive mechanism at work. (p. 121)

Across the country state and local governments have been considering ways to supposedly fight the "obesity epidemic." Actions they have taken or are considering include removing candy and soda machines from public school buildings and putting students' BMI (Body Mass Index) on report cards. As Oliver points out, all of these efforts are doomed to not only fail, but backfire -- largely because they focus on weight and weight loss rather than directly on health.

I read news reports last year about one Texas school in which candy machines were removed from public school campuses. Within a week, enterprising students had developed a thriving black market in candy, and some young entrepreneurs were earning $200 a week selling sweets to classmates.

Here in Tennessee, where I live & work, the state government is reinforcing unhealthy attitudes and behaviors about weight by, among other things, striking a deal with the Weight Watchers corporation to allow TennCare insurance enrollees to participate in that company's dieting program at a vastly reduced rate.

I wish Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and his staff -- and the officials in other states and muncipalities -- would read Fat Politics. As Oliver says,

Instead of convening task forces to figure out ways to combat obesity, state and federal government should simply be telling health agencies to find better measures of health than weight. They should make rules on the conflicts of interest between obesity researchers, weight-loss doctors, and the diet and pharmaceutical industries. And they should develop programs to combat the stigma and prejudice that fat people must face and institute laws, such as those in San Francisco and Michigan, that protect people against size discrimination. In short, they should work on changing all the harmful perceptions we have about weight. This would do far more to improve the health and well-being of the American population than making us so worried about our weight. (p. 180)

The best way to get over a "weight problem" is to stop worrying so much about weight.

Similarly, the cure for the "obesity epidemic" is to stop focusing on weight as a health indicator, and cease manipulating statistics and promoting false assumptions and non-causal associations between weight/fatness and health. Fat Politics is a means to that end. Read it, and recommend it to your friends, family, health professionals, and politicians.

Lynne Murray: At LargeThe 3rd book in the Josephine Fuller mystery series finds Jo a suspect in the death of the woman who broke up her marriage.

Tracey L. Thompson: FatropolisMost of her life Jenny has felt she's not good enough, not attractive enough, because she's fat. Then one day she stumbles through a portal between a world that values thinness and one that values roundness. Sometimes falling can wake you up.

Leslie Moïse: Love is the Thread: A Knitting FriendshipSustained by the metaphor of knitting, Love is the Thread traces the way one spiritual friendship can change all our relationships. The memoir centers on the friendship between a woman snared in a lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder and another woman reweaving her life after an abusive relationship.

Lynne Murray: The Falstaff Vampire FilesSir John Falstaff is undead & misbehaving in San Francisco. Kris Marlowe doesn't believe in vampires, but when she's attacked by a horde of murderous monsters she must seek help from the most famous rogue in history.

Lynne Murray: Larger Than DeathMeet Josephine Fuller, a sleuth of size who doesn't apologize. Full-figured & full of attitude with abundant sleuthing skills, Jo takes time off from her new job and walks into a murder case. Her best friend and early role model, a plus-sized clothing designer, lies slain in her own apartment. Was she the victim of a serial killer who targets voluptuous women, or is the murder personal? In the first of a series being brought back to print -- & ebook -- Jo copes with her friend's murder, an unexpected romance and bizarre neighbors as she races to find the killer before becoming the next victim.

Lauri J Owen: Blowing EmbersBook 2 of The Embers Series (sequel to Fallen Embers) continues the saga of Kiera, transported to an alternate Alaska in which those who have the power to control the elements -- now including Kiera -- have ruled over those who cannot, including the shapeshifting indigenous peoples. The Fairbanks slaves struggle to maintain their newly won freedom, which is threatened by a force that will also shatter Kiera's heart.

Pat Ballard: Dangerous LoveNew romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances! Ava Manning saw some research she wasn't supposed to, and now someone wants her dead. As if that isn't complicating her life enough, she has to deal with charming LAPD detective Ricky Don McKinzie....

Karen Blomain: The Season of Lost ChildrenIn a small college town in Pennsylvania the lives of a bigamist's wife, a Polish orphan, an ex-priest and his wife -- a former nun -- and a mute teenage runaway intersect.

Charlie Lovett: The Fat Lady SingsYoung Adult fiction. Sassy, irreverent Aggie Stockdale should have gotten the lead in her high school play. But she isn't just a talented actress, writer, and athlete. She's also the fattest girl in the senior class.

Ellen Frankel: Syd ArthurLove, Laughter & Enlightenment! A middle-aged Jewish woman is soon in over her chakras as her spiritual search takes her from yoga studio to meditation hall to ashram gift store to the pages of Zensational catalogue. Her Mah Jongg group insists it's merely a midlife crisis. But nothing's going to stop Syd's journey toward Nirvana -- not even the hottest sale at Nordstrom's.

Lauri J Owen: Fallen EmbersKiera and her nephew are transported to an alternate, feudal Alaska during a strange dog's attack. The icy land is ruled by decadent mages who have enslaved the shapechanging, indigenous peoples. Kiera soon finds herself fighting -- and, to her astonishment, summoning fire. Before she can find her way home she must learn about the local systems of magic and her own powers. Kiera's path leads her deeper into Alaska, to romance, joy and heartbreak. Choosing to follow her heart may cost her everything.

Lynne Murray: Bride of the Living DeadBig, beautiful & rebellious, indie film critic Daria MacClellan is most comfortable in a monster movie poster T-shirt & blue jeans. Yet when family drama hijacks her engagement, she's trapped into a formal wedding with her perfectionist, anorexic sister, Sky, planning the whole thing. Daria adores her fiance, but her wedding seems to be spiraling into a horror film. Will the spectre of a picture perfect wedding turn her into the Bride of the Living Dead?

Rebecca Brock: The Giving SeasonTo have the life she's always dreamed of, Jessy must fight her insecurity and learn how to let Michael -- and his family -- love her just as she is.

Frannie Zellman: FatLandIn the near future the Pro-Health Laws of the United States of America have become so oppressive that people seeking freedom over their bodies have established a new country. In FatLand, life is good and scales are forbidden. Free from the hatred and discrimination of the Other Side, FatLanders have built happy, productive lives. But not everyone is flourishing.

Charlie Lovett: The ProgramA new weight loss clinic in New York City has an offer for you -- given them $5,000 and they'll make you as thin as a supermodel. You can eat whatever you want and never gain an ounce. Tempted? Fledgling journalist Karen Sumner would be -- if only she had $5,000. When Karen finally walks through the blue and gold doors of The Program, however, she's on the trail of the hottest story of her career. If she and her friends are right, The Program is doing something even worse than creating an army of unnaturally thin women. Library Journal calls The Program "a lively first novel. Highly recommended."

Linda C Wisniewski: Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish HeritageEven before she was diagnosed with scoliosis at 13, Linda Wisniewski felt off kilter. Born to a cruel father in the insulated Polish Catholic community of Amsterdam, New York, she learned martyrdom as a way of life. Off Kilter shows her learning to stretch her Self as well as her spine as she comes to terms with her mentally deteriorating, widowed mother and her culture. Only by accepting her physical deformity, her emotionally unavailable mother, and her Polish American heritage does she finally find balance and a life that fits. Maureen Murdock, author of Unreliable Truth: On Memoir & Memory, calls Off Kilter "a courageous, insightful book, particularly relevant for anyone who grew up feeling physically 'different.'"

Pat, Ballard: The Best ManSparks fly the night Lana Clarke meets to plan her sister's wedding -- and not just because curvaceous Lana announces she's stopped dieting and doesn't care if she's fat as maid of honor. The strong-willed sister of the bride attracts the attention of the groom's devastatingly handsome best man, Anthony Angelino. But when the sparks become flames, Lana's in trouble. Tony's first wife died mysteriously. Will Lana be next?

Judy Bagshaw: At Long Last, LoveBig beautiful --and in some cases slightly more mature -- heroines grace the pages of this collection of romantic short stories by Judy Bagshaw.

Jack Adler: Splendid SeniorsAn inspiring ensemble of 52 people whose accomplishments after age 65 remind us that creativity, passion & influence can not only flower in later years, but bear delicious fruit.

Mary Saracino: The Singing of Swans"The Singing of Swans is a remarkable narrative calling--even compelling--us to connect with our own ancestral roots, to seek our own inner wisdom, and to reclaim our own inner voices!" --Margaret Starbird, author of The Woman With the Alabaster Jar & Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile

Ellen Frankel: Beyond Measure: A Memoir About Short Stature and Inner Growth"If you have ever measured your height or your weight and felt good or bad about yourself as a result, you need this book. In its pages, Ellen Frankel makes an important contribution to human liberation by telling the most fabulous story that can be told, the story of a person coming fully into her own. This book is thought-provoking, heart-rending, and a genuine solace for people of all sizes." --Marilyn Wann, author of FAT!SO?

Pat Ballard: Abigail's RevengeInjustice, romance and suspense smolder in a small Southern town. Romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances, Pat Ballard.

Pattie Thomas, Ph.D.: Taking Up Space"Thomas's incisive blend of sociological inquiry and personal narrative amounts to a provocative treatise on fat oppression in our culture. Taking Up Space is a kind of roadmap through the minefield of the 'war on obesity,' and it offers protection to the reader ready to fight for cultural change surrounding the meaning of fatness." --Kathleen LeBesco, Ph.D., author of Revotling Bodies: The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity.

Anne Richardson Williams: Unconventional Means: The Dream Down UnderShattered by family tragedy in the early 1960s, an upper-middle-class Southern teenager finds solace in art and literature. Decades later she is called to the continent whose literature once comforted her, and to a magical connection with an Aboriginal woman transcending race and half a world.

Pat Ballard: A Worthy HeirWhen Pam Spencer sees the newspaper ad seeking "a worthy heir" to Fiona Bainbridge's millions, she jumps at the chance to get her brother the medical care he needs after a job-related accident. But Reese Bainbridge, Fiona's handsome grandson--and jilted heir--rushes home in anger when he hears his grandmother has moved Pam and her brother into the family mansion. Sparks fly--and Pam is up to the challenge.

Pat Ballard: His Brother's ChildOne party, one silver-tongued, double-talking stranger intent on winning a bet, and Faith Carr ends up betrayed, alone, and pregnant. When Edward Brenner shows up on her doorstep intending to right his brother's wrongs, she's scared and vulnerable. But she agrees to marry this stranger to give the baby a father, although keeping him at a distance. She doesn't realize that Edward fell in love with her the moment he saw her. Will her battered self-esteem allow her to see the truth--and her own beauty?

Pat Ballard: Wanted: One GroomWealthy Hanna Rockwell will lose her home and her inheritance unless she marries by her 30th birthday. She's stunned when Matt Corbett, the faded rock start she worshipped in her teens, accepts her brother's offer to bail him out of financial trouble if he'll marry her. Her teenaged fantasies come to life--bringing a few surprises with them.

Pat Ballard: Nobody's PerfectNella Covington can't believe she's agreed to marry arrogant Samuel du Cannon, even if it IS only a marriage of convenience. He needs a mother for his young son, and she needs to keep her childhood home. If Sam's work keeps him on the road enough, she won't have to deal with him much. Sam's never been attracted to plus-size women, so they won't be tempted to have a real relationship. At least, that's what they keep telling themselves--

Lynne Murray: At LargeThe 3rd book in the Josephine Fuller mystery series finds Jo a suspect in the death of the woman who broke up her marriage.

Tracey L. Thompson: FatropolisMost of her life Jenny has felt she's not good enough, not attractive enough, because she's fat. Then one day she stumbles through a portal between a world that values thinness and one that values roundness. Sometimes falling can wake you up.

Leslie Moïse: Love is the Thread: A Knitting FriendshipSustained by the metaphor of knitting, Love is the Thread traces the way one spiritual friendship can change all our relationships. The memoir centers on the friendship between a woman snared in a lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder and another woman reweaving her life after an abusive relationship.

Lynne Murray: The Falstaff Vampire FilesSir John Falstaff is undead & misbehaving in San Francisco. Kris Marlowe doesn't believe in vampires, but when she's attacked by a horde of murderous monsters she must seek help from the most famous rogue in history.

Lynne Murray: Larger Than DeathMeet Josephine Fuller, a sleuth of size who doesn't apologize. Full-figured & full of attitude with abundant sleuthing skills, Jo takes time off from her new job and walks into a murder case. Her best friend and early role model, a plus-sized clothing designer, lies slain in her own apartment. Was she the victim of a serial killer who targets voluptuous women, or is the murder personal? In the first of a series being brought back to print -- & ebook -- Jo copes with her friend's murder, an unexpected romance and bizarre neighbors as she races to find the killer before becoming the next victim.

Lauri J Owen: Blowing EmbersBook 2 of The Embers Series (sequel to Fallen Embers) continues the saga of Kiera, transported to an alternate Alaska in which those who have the power to control the elements -- now including Kiera -- have ruled over those who cannot, including the shapeshifting indigenous peoples. The Fairbanks slaves struggle to maintain their newly won freedom, which is threatened by a force that will also shatter Kiera's heart.

Pat Ballard: Dangerous LoveNew romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances! Ava Manning saw some research she wasn't supposed to, and now someone wants her dead. As if that isn't complicating her life enough, she has to deal with charming LAPD detective Ricky Don McKinzie....

Karen Blomain: The Season of Lost ChildrenIn a small college town in Pennsylvania the lives of a bigamist's wife, a Polish orphan, an ex-priest and his wife -- a former nun -- and a mute teenage runaway intersect.

Charlie Lovett: The Fat Lady SingsYoung Adult fiction. Sassy, irreverent Aggie Stockdale should have gotten the lead in her high school play. But she isn't just a talented actress, writer, and athlete. She's also the fattest girl in the senior class.

Ellen Frankel: Syd ArthurLove, Laughter & Enlightenment! A middle-aged Jewish woman is soon in over her chakras as her spiritual search takes her from yoga studio to meditation hall to ashram gift store to the pages of Zensational catalogue. Her Mah Jongg group insists it's merely a midlife crisis. But nothing's going to stop Syd's journey toward Nirvana -- not even the hottest sale at Nordstrom's.

Lauri J Owen: Fallen EmbersKiera and her nephew are transported to an alternate, feudal Alaska during a strange dog's attack. The icy land is ruled by decadent mages who have enslaved the shapechanging, indigenous peoples. Kiera soon finds herself fighting -- and, to her astonishment, summoning fire. Before she can find her way home she must learn about the local systems of magic and her own powers. Kiera's path leads her deeper into Alaska, to romance, joy and heartbreak. Choosing to follow her heart may cost her everything.

Lynne Murray: Bride of the Living DeadBig, beautiful & rebellious, indie film critic Daria MacClellan is most comfortable in a monster movie poster T-shirt & blue jeans. Yet when family drama hijacks her engagement, she's trapped into a formal wedding with her perfectionist, anorexic sister, Sky, planning the whole thing. Daria adores her fiance, but her wedding seems to be spiraling into a horror film. Will the spectre of a picture perfect wedding turn her into the Bride of the Living Dead?

Rebecca Brock: The Giving SeasonTo have the life she's always dreamed of, Jessy must fight her insecurity and learn how to let Michael -- and his family -- love her just as she is.

Frannie Zellman: FatLandIn the near future the Pro-Health Laws of the United States of America have become so oppressive that people seeking freedom over their bodies have established a new country. In FatLand, life is good and scales are forbidden. Free from the hatred and discrimination of the Other Side, FatLanders have built happy, productive lives. But not everyone is flourishing.

Charlie Lovett: The ProgramA new weight loss clinic in New York City has an offer for you -- given them $5,000 and they'll make you as thin as a supermodel. You can eat whatever you want and never gain an ounce. Tempted? Fledgling journalist Karen Sumner would be -- if only she had $5,000. When Karen finally walks through the blue and gold doors of The Program, however, she's on the trail of the hottest story of her career. If she and her friends are right, The Program is doing something even worse than creating an army of unnaturally thin women. Library Journal calls The Program "a lively first novel. Highly recommended."

Linda C Wisniewski: Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish HeritageEven before she was diagnosed with scoliosis at 13, Linda Wisniewski felt off kilter. Born to a cruel father in the insulated Polish Catholic community of Amsterdam, New York, she learned martyrdom as a way of life. Off Kilter shows her learning to stretch her Self as well as her spine as she comes to terms with her mentally deteriorating, widowed mother and her culture. Only by accepting her physical deformity, her emotionally unavailable mother, and her Polish American heritage does she finally find balance and a life that fits. Maureen Murdock, author of Unreliable Truth: On Memoir & Memory, calls Off Kilter "a courageous, insightful book, particularly relevant for anyone who grew up feeling physically 'different.'"

Pat, Ballard: The Best ManSparks fly the night Lana Clarke meets to plan her sister's wedding -- and not just because curvaceous Lana announces she's stopped dieting and doesn't care if she's fat as maid of honor. The strong-willed sister of the bride attracts the attention of the groom's devastatingly handsome best man, Anthony Angelino. But when the sparks become flames, Lana's in trouble. Tony's first wife died mysteriously. Will Lana be next?

Judy Bagshaw: At Long Last, LoveBig beautiful --and in some cases slightly more mature -- heroines grace the pages of this collection of romantic short stories by Judy Bagshaw.

Jack Adler: Splendid SeniorsAn inspiring ensemble of 52 people whose accomplishments after age 65 remind us that creativity, passion & influence can not only flower in later years, but bear delicious fruit.

Mary Saracino: The Singing of Swans"The Singing of Swans is a remarkable narrative calling--even compelling--us to connect with our own ancestral roots, to seek our own inner wisdom, and to reclaim our own inner voices!" --Margaret Starbird, author of The Woman With the Alabaster Jar & Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile

Ellen Frankel: Beyond Measure: A Memoir About Short Stature and Inner Growth"If you have ever measured your height or your weight and felt good or bad about yourself as a result, you need this book. In its pages, Ellen Frankel makes an important contribution to human liberation by telling the most fabulous story that can be told, the story of a person coming fully into her own. This book is thought-provoking, heart-rending, and a genuine solace for people of all sizes." --Marilyn Wann, author of FAT!SO?

Pat Ballard: Abigail's RevengeInjustice, romance and suspense smolder in a small Southern town. Romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances, Pat Ballard.

Pattie Thomas, Ph.D.: Taking Up Space"Thomas's incisive blend of sociological inquiry and personal narrative amounts to a provocative treatise on fat oppression in our culture. Taking Up Space is a kind of roadmap through the minefield of the 'war on obesity,' and it offers protection to the reader ready to fight for cultural change surrounding the meaning of fatness." --Kathleen LeBesco, Ph.D., author of Revotling Bodies: The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity.

Anne Richardson Williams: Unconventional Means: The Dream Down UnderShattered by family tragedy in the early 1960s, an upper-middle-class Southern teenager finds solace in art and literature. Decades later she is called to the continent whose literature once comforted her, and to a magical connection with an Aboriginal woman transcending race and half a world.

Pat Ballard: A Worthy HeirWhen Pam Spencer sees the newspaper ad seeking "a worthy heir" to Fiona Bainbridge's millions, she jumps at the chance to get her brother the medical care he needs after a job-related accident. But Reese Bainbridge, Fiona's handsome grandson--and jilted heir--rushes home in anger when he hears his grandmother has moved Pam and her brother into the family mansion. Sparks fly--and Pam is up to the challenge.

Pat Ballard: His Brother's ChildOne party, one silver-tongued, double-talking stranger intent on winning a bet, and Faith Carr ends up betrayed, alone, and pregnant. When Edward Brenner shows up on her doorstep intending to right his brother's wrongs, she's scared and vulnerable. But she agrees to marry this stranger to give the baby a father, although keeping him at a distance. She doesn't realize that Edward fell in love with her the moment he saw her. Will her battered self-esteem allow her to see the truth--and her own beauty?

Pat Ballard: Wanted: One GroomWealthy Hanna Rockwell will lose her home and her inheritance unless she marries by her 30th birthday. She's stunned when Matt Corbett, the faded rock start she worshipped in her teens, accepts her brother's offer to bail him out of financial trouble if he'll marry her. Her teenaged fantasies come to life--bringing a few surprises with them.

Pat Ballard: Nobody's PerfectNella Covington can't believe she's agreed to marry arrogant Samuel du Cannon, even if it IS only a marriage of convenience. He needs a mother for his young son, and she needs to keep her childhood home. If Sam's work keeps him on the road enough, she won't have to deal with him much. Sam's never been attracted to plus-size women, so they won't be tempted to have a real relationship. At least, that's what they keep telling themselves--